The present invention relates to pedestrian barricades which are particularly designed to accommodate the safe transit of the disabled.
Over the years, federal and state governments have promulgated increasingly stringent safety regulations designed to ensure that the disabled are accounted for in public accommodations, thereby permitting those with disabilities to have full, substantially unrestricted, and safe access. For example, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and regulations promulgated under its authority, require that for any sidewalk closure, there needs to be an alternate accessible pedestrian route. The alternate route must be clearly marked and detectable by pedestrians with visual impairments. Thus, cones and tape, which long have been used to mark such alternate routes, are unacceptable under these types of regulations because they are not adequately detectable by the visually impaired. Accordingly, barricade systems for marking such routes have become the accepted standard in the industry.
At a minimum, such ADA-compliant barricades must typically comprise a lower cane-detectable, solid rail, beginning at its lower edge a maximum of 2.5″ above grade and ending at its upper edge a minimum of 6″ above grade, as well as an upper solid protective rail 36-42″ above grade. The cane detectable rail must be highly visible (painted orange, white, or yellow, typically), and both rails must be continuous. The lower and upper rails must be in a common vertical plane, and no part of the barricade is permitted to protrude into the walkway.